The eyes of the college football recruiting world will be focused on five-star 2023 QB Malachi Nelson this weekend.

Happy Monday, friends and fans!

The Oklahoma Sooners have unsurprisingly made the cut for 2023 five-star QB prospect Malachi Nelson, who recently announced the top seven schools he’ll be choosing from live on CBSSports HQ on Sunday, July 18.

According to recruiting experts over at 247 Sports and elsewhere, OU is currently slated as the favorite to land the pledge of the 6’3” signal caller out of Los Alamitos, California. If Nelson chooses the Sooners, he will officially be the first commit for Oklahoma’s 2023 class.

Recently, Lincoln Riley and his staff have seen a boom on the recruiting trail, picking up six verbal commitments for the class of 2022 in the last three weeks. So far, none of the current class’ commits are projected to play quarterback for OU, but there’s still plenty of time to change that if the numbers call for it. Having said that, even years are a tough sell for QB prospects, as is seems inevitable that they’ll be sandwiched by No. 1 QB recruits from odd years.

Now onto this week’s Monday edition of Hot Links! Pat Fields earns academic honor, K1 is regarded as a top 10 QB and more!

OU Links

• Whenever I hear Porter Moser speak, I get a little bit better at playing basketball. This team might not win it all in next March, but it sure looks like it’ll be a lot of fun to watch.

• According to William Hill’s latest 2021 Heisman Trophy odds, Spencer Rattler remains the favorite to claim the coveted individual honor this December.
• Sooners Wire’s John Williams relayed Pro Football Focus’ take on the five most important OU players going into the 2021 college football season.
• Veteran safety Patrick Fields has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Football Second Team for his outstanding performance both in the classroom and on the field. Congrats, Pat!

• A collection of NFL executives, coaches and players have made their picks for who they believe are the top quarterbacks in the league today, and Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray made the cut at No. 10. Baker Mayfield also received an honorable mention. Heads up, you need an ESPN+ subscription in order to read this article in its entirety.
• It was a pretty big day for the Sooners in the MLB Draft, as 1B Tyler Hardman, pitcher Wyatt Olds and pitcher Jason Ruffcorn were selected in the 5th, 7th and 8th rounds, respectively.

Around the Sports World

• On Sunday night, the Milwaukee Bucks bullied the Phoenix Suns en route to a 120-100 win in Game Three of the 2021 NBA Finals. Giannis Antetokounmpo was virtually unstoppable on the court as he racked up 41 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. The series now stands at 2-1 in favor of the Suns.

• After suffering a gruesome broken leg injury in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier on Saturday, UFC superstar Conor McGregor has reportedly undergone successful surgery and says he’s confident that he will eventually make his return to the Octagon better than ever.
• A former Kansas Jayhawks football player under ex-head coach Les Miles has come forward about being offered money from KU in order to maintain his silence about harassment he faced from some of his teammates.
• Former British Open champion Zach Johnson has been ruled out for this year’s golf major after he recently tested positive for COVID-19.
• On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Louisville Cardinals catcher Henry Davis with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.

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